Gremlins review

Chinese Boy: Look Mister, there are some rules that you've got to follow. 
Randall Peltzer: Yeah, what kind of rules? 
Chinese Boy: First of all, keep him out of the light, he hates bright light, especially sunlight, it'll kill him. Second, don't give him any water, not even to drink. But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never feed him after midnight. 

Director: Joe Dante
(1984)

When it comes to choosing which films to watch around Christmas time, Joe Dante’s Gremlins is usually high up on the list. Despite being set during the festive period, it actually has little to do with Christmas itself. Instead, this setting acts as a plot device to set the film into motion, with Dante giving us the closest thing to a family friendly monster movie.

Set in a small American town, Gremlins follows young man Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), who, upon arriving home from work on Christmas Eve is presented with a new pet. Rather than a usual cat or dog, his father has given him a Mogwai, a sort of cross between a bear and an owl. Naming it Gizmo, Billy has 3 rules to abide by (don’t show it bright lights, submerge it in water or feed it after midnight) though he and his friend Pete (Cory Feldman) are quick to break most of these, resulting in the films fluffy mascot spawning other gremlins. While these offspring look harmless enough, they soon transform into something considerably more threatening, complete with gruesome green scales and razor sharp fangs. Soon the whole town is overrun, and it’s up to Billy and his crush Kate (Phoebe Cates) to attempt to stop the infestation.

Despite its seemingly innocent appearance, Gremlins is certainly not a film for young children. After the evil gremlins have hatched, they skulk through Billy’s house, stalking his worried mother before lunging out of cupboards to assault her. While this cheap jump scare will be enough to frighten the youngest audience members, the way that she disposes of these tiny terrors borders on the psychotic. One gets stabbed, another blended and the final monster is microwaved alive, exploding into yellow gunge. It makes for some enjoyable fun, but is still a bit too much, even more so due to the fact that Gremlins was rated PG on release in 1984.

While the plot and acting is nothing to write home about (Galligan is utterly wooden in a couple of instances), the actual brilliance of Gremlins comes from the Gremlins themselves. Brought to live with a combination of animatronics and what looks like puppetry, they're the life of the film. Gizmo is as adorable as a pet can be, complete with loving expressions and a twitching, lively demeanour. The evil Gremlins are also as excellent, their sinister machinations are brought to life with some more superb special effects.

While not the director of the feature, Steven Spielberg has got his finger prints all over Dante’s film, and it really shows. The original script was significantly darker, with characters being beheaded by the Gremlins during their rampage. While elements of this do remain in the final product, they usually have a comic spin applied to them, such as the fate of the early Scrooge imitating antagonist Mrs Deagle (Polly Holliday). Furthermore, product placement becomes so prominent it almost morphs into its own character, a beast equally as gruesome as the gremlins themselves. Burger king, Milkybar, Coors, Loony Toons, its painfully forced and totally obvious. The E.T reference was cute though, but was also as subtle as being hit with a money grabbing hammer.

Despite its dark tone, Gremlins is a film that can be enjoyed by almost all of the family. Its climax falters somewhat, offering resolution but little in the way of payoff. Not exactly the first film to spring to mind as Christmas viewing, Gremlins needs to be seen by everybody at least once, even if only to see how it helped introduce the PG13 rating, this is undoubtedly an important film in a small way.

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